Statue of Harpist in burial ground, Shane's Castle Park, Antrim, Co Antrim

Statue of Harpist in burial ground, Shane's Castle Park, Antrim

This is an accomplished work of symbolic figure sculpture in stone by French artist A.J. Victor Segoffin, which enjoys a pleasant setting and together with the adjacent burial vault forms an interesting group.

The statue depicts a female harpist, over-life-size, carved in white marble and now much weathered, standing on a rough-hewn stone plinth. It represents the figure of Ireland or Erin mourning for her sons killed in battle. The statue is aligned on a north to south axis.

The work was sculpted in Paris in 1923 and commissioned by Lord and Lady O'Neill as a memorial to their eldest son, Captain The Honourable Arthur O'Neill of the 2nd Life Guards, and the men of the district who fell with him in the Great War of 1914-18. Two inscriptions appear on the memorial. On the east face in the bottom right-hand corner is marked 'A.J. Victor Segoffin, Statuaire, Paris, 1923'. On the west face along the bottom runs a full inscription explaining the memorial's purpose and authorship.

Following the death of both Lord and Lady O'Neill, their surviving children presented the statue to Randalstown Public Elementary School, where it was set up within the school grounds. It was later returned to the O'Neill family in the 1980s and installed in its present position within the Shane's Castle demesne.

The statue stands in a rural setting within a private burial ground in the grounds of a large demesne. It is located immediately adjacent to a stone burial vault in the south-west corner of the graveyard, surrounded by rough grass and overshadowed by tall trees, but remains clearly visible from the entrance gateway. The statue stands within the area of an ancient monument.